A speaker that the recent Woodard Heads Conference recommended we read two books by Alex Quigley: “Closing the [Vocabulary] Gap” and “Closing the [Reading} Gap”. I have begun with the former, and the early pages are, I promise you, revelational.
The central premise is the belief that vocabulary is a proxy for learning and that to thrive in school and beyond students need a word-hoard of 50,000 words. It is not enough to simply know how to spell these words, but to be truly ‘word rich’ and to possess ‘word depth’, students need to know their meaning, and if possible, their etymology or morphology.
Incontrovertible evidence has been gathered to prove that vocabulary is crucial for school success, but as being ‘word rich’ is so intertwined with other factors such as socio-economic status, its importance is perhaps understated. Back in the 1990s a study in of 42 families in the US was conducted where, over a 30-month period, communication between parents and children was recorded. From birth to 48 months, parents in professional families spoke 32 million more words to their children than parents in welfare families, and this ‘talk gap’ between the ages of 0 to 3 explains the vocabulary language gap at age 3 and the reading and maths achievements gap aged 10. Further evidence suggests that the vocabulary size at age 25 months accounted for linguistic and cognitive skills at aged 8… Perhaps like you, as my daughters are currently aged 13, I am hurriedly replaying their childhood and wondering if I did the right thing? Did I talk enough? Do my children have a vocabulary gap?
What is the % of words known in a text to ensure reading comprehension? 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%? Take a look at this SATs reading extract:
Then, in 2005, a team of scientists unearthed thousands of dodo bones in some mud flats in Mauritius. The remains date back to over 4,000 years ago, when the island was suffering from a lengthy drought. The mud flats would have formed a freshwater oasis in an otherwise parched environment. It is thought that most of the animals, while trying to reach the slowly receding waters, of the lake, became stuck and dies of thirst or suffocation. However, clearly some dodos survived as they did not become extinct until much later.
There was a furore in 2016 with anguished tales of students crying in these exams. Highlighted are some words which a typical 10-year old may, or may not know. What if you did not understand these emboldened words? Would the text make sense? How much additional ‘brain power’ would you have to expend deciphering the text?
To give you a glimpse of what this may be like, consider the following description:
A XXXXX is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or XXXXX XXXXX of XXXXX, or more generally any dish wherein XXXXX serves as a XXXXX for another food type. ... As well as being homemade , XXXXX are also widely sold in restaurants and can be served hot or cold.
There are 57 words in the description, but with seven blanked out with X's, you only have 88% of the description. You may have worked out that I was describing a sandwich – well done if you did – but it undoubtedly required you to think beyond the normal reflex of reading and comprehension.
The text is not critical of teachers, but it highlights that often not enough consideration is given to the readability of the text used when setting tasks. Academic vocabulary is often used, but its meaning and etymology are not always fully understood. If students cannot understand the language of the explanation, how can they grasp the concept it is describing?
So, what can we do to help close the vocabulary gap?
More reading is a ‘no brainer’, but it is not the end of the story. Talk more as a family, especially at supper and never miss an opportunity to check or explain the meaning of words that you use these conversations; too often we assume that everybody else understands. In school, we will focus on more direct instruction of academic vocabulary and be more alert to the difficulty’s students have reading into their teens and beyond.
I’ll leave you with a quote from Quigley himself:
“The future success of all students rests predominantly on their ability to become proficient and fluent readers. Their capacity to learn, and enjoy learning, is bound inexorably to their reading skill. If they read it, they can say it. If they can say it with confidence, it provides the key to success for their future”.
I have a newfound respect for all reading. Let us encourage this in all of ourselves and children too.
Richard Murray
Mafalda is the name of the beloved character from the children’s comic series of the same name, created in 1964 by Argentine cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado, otherwise known as “Quino.” Mafalda was first published in the Argentine newspaper Primera Plana on the 29th of September, 1964. Originally designed as an advertisement comic strip for the Siam Di Tella manufacturing company, it was turned down by several newspapers until picked up by Primera Plana.
Along with Mafalda, there were several other children created throughout the years, who also served their own political and social purposes. Susanita, Mafalda’s best friend, was created as a gossip and a woman antagonist. She often expressed her desire to marry and have children, which Mafalda would protest. Manolito, another friend of Mafalda’s, was presented as a stereotypical Gallego, or Spanish migrant, who worked along with his father and was obsessed with making money and running a successful business.
Mafalda became the influencer of a generation, not only in Argentina, but in all of South America, Quebec, and even Europe. Compared to the comic Peanuts by Charles Schulz, the comic was considered as political, and did not shy away from heavy subjects such as identity and death. Mafalda even began to influence the eating habits of its readers, with many children professing that they did not like soup, just as Mafalda repeatedly professed her hatred for soup throughout the nine years the comic was produced. Mafalda gave children an opportunity to delve into the deeper questions of life, and gave them a friend with whom they could sympathise and relate to. To this day, Mafalda still remains one of the most famous Latin American comic strips, and is still in reproduction in the form of books, television series, and even a film.
